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32 registered Glynn County sex offenders arrested compliance

BRUNSWICK - A two-day compliance check on Glynn County sex offenders this week resulted in nearly one arrest for each of the 35 participating officers.

As of Thursday, 32 sex offenders had been charged with a number of crimes including violating probation, possession of a firearm by a felon, providing false information and failure to register as a sex offender, Glynn County Sheriff’s Office records show.

Dubbed “Operation Golden Isles,’’ the U.S. Marshals Service, the Glynn County Sheriff’s Office and other agencies checked each of the 105 sex offenders who were free in the county. Sheriff’s Deputy Mike Lawson said there are actually about 150 registered from Glynn County, but nine live in other counties and about 40 already were incarcerated.

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“The focus of the compliance operation was a comprehensive physical verification of very offender, their residences, their employment and compliance with their registration requirements,’’ the Marshals Service said in a release.

There were also 17 new warrants for registration and probation violations, but the officers developed others during the checks.

Although at least half were charged with failure to register, Lawson explained that some charges resulted in offenders failure to report a change in their status such as a new residence, job or vehicle.

Under Georgia law, all sex offenders must update their personal information each year no later than three days before their birthday. Some had failed to comply, officials said.

All will have to appear before a judge and many will experience a change in the terms of their release, Lawson said.

No warrant needed

Some already had Fourth Amendment waivers as part of their sentences, which allows officers to search their residences without a warrant, Lawson said.

As an example, he cited the case of William Brown, a convicted child molester who lives at 1707 K St. across from Burroughs-Molette Elementary School. Someone who knew Brown’s history complained that he was sitting on his front porch watching children on the playground.

Because Brown had a Fourth Amendment waiver, Lawson said he was able to go into Brown’s house where found a plastic chair facing Brown’s open front door where children were visible through the closed screen door. Lawson said he arrested Brown for possessing and consuming alcohol, a violation of his probation.

Brown could live near the school only because his offense occurred before laws were passed forbidding sex offenders from living near schools, playgrounds and other places where children gather, he said.

Lawson said he is hopeful that judges in some of the pending cases will impose Fourth Amendment waivers.

Among the more serious charges were possession of a firearm by a felon against Carl Lane Atkinson Jr. of 559 Touchstone Parkway and Samuel Bernard Dale of 8116 New Jesup Road.

Phillip Alan Myers of 204 Aubrey St. was charged with computer pornography and child exploitation.

Both Lawson and the Marshals Service said the operation was a success only because of the participation of the agencies.

They cited the work of the Southeast Regional Fugitive Task Force, the Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force, the Georgia Department of Corrections, the Brunswick Probation Office and the Southeast Probation TAC team.

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